the policy makers say the consumption tax hikes scheduled for april will not deal a serious blow to the economy. >>> japanese companies are reporting strong earnings for the april to september period as a weaker yen is boosting their profitability. the earnings season has peaked, nearly 20% of those listed on the main board of the tokyo stock exchange reported on thursday. a survey shows the total ordinary profit of the companies that reported earnings by wednesday rose 45% in yen terms compared to a year ago. 29% of those companies have revised upward their full-year profit projections through march 2014. struggling electric appliance companies are also making a sharp comeback. panasonic reported a net profit of $1.7 billion for the april-to-september period. that's a record high for mid-year earnings. the company sustained a loss of nearly $7 billion in the same period last year. meanwhile, sharp's operating profit rose to nearly $350 million, that is a huge improvement from a loss of $1.7 million posted a year ago. and sony saw a jump in operating profit by 40%. helped on by strong s